In Photos dot org

Snow on the runway

On the way back from Arizona I flew via Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. I had a long wait but I have a laptop, a spare battery, DVD and Mame to keep me amused.

I took a few photos too but I discovered shortly after taking this that photography in most parts of the airport is banned!

From what I remember, it’s ok to take snapshots of family or friends beyond the security checkpoints, and possibly only with a compact camera. I can only imagine the fuss if I had been discovered taking photos of the runway and service areas with my big chunky Canon 20D!

I know for a fact that photography in Heathrow is banned. It’s a good thing too. The flash might set off the dangerous liquids left by disgruntled and thirsty travellers before they go through security.

Have you noticed this is a wide angle shot? I didn’t get my Sigma 10-20 back yet and no news from the camera store. I took this with a Canon 10-22 USM stuck to my camera. Matt very kindly gave me his lens because he’s buying Nikon kit. Thanks Matt!

Traffic by the Elysian

Traffic stops at the lights by the building site of the Elysian. I passed by the other side of it, past the low rise section of the building and it towers over the street.
It’s massive!

Debenhams’ confused identity

Debenhams bought Irish department store chain, "Roches Stores", back in 2006, and rebranded their Cork store on Patrick Street shortly afterwards.

Unfortunately nobody has yet replaced the big "Roches Stores" logo at the top of the building. It’s still there, more than a year later!

Sunlit Grassy Slopes

Tough grass that’s lovely and springy to walk on edge to the horizon where a cloud floats serenely in the blue sky. Life is good!

This is taken close to this photo of the same slope but the mood is completely different.

Construction cranes at night

Cranes over the construction site at the old Guy and Company site make for a striking image at night.

This was taken from the Tesco multi-storey car park, a few metres away from where I shot Clouds move at night.

Yesterday we had to bring the car for a service so I took the opportunity to travel to visit the framer in Kilbrittain and sign the border of the prints Haydn has made. The prints look great, they’re raised up from the background border and will eventually be framed in a deep frame. I hope to post photos of my visit in the next few days if I get the time to work on the photos.

The Stephen Pierce Gallery Cafe is open

A large sign outside the gallery and workshop of Stephen Pearce Pottery in Co. Cork proclaims that their cafe is open for business. I didn’t go into the cafe because I was walking around with Oscar while Jacinta was inside looking around. It was a beautiful day so I didn’t mind.

Stephen Pearce is very popular and most recently did a deal with a local supermarket chain, SuperValu, offering his products at a discount with stamps. I don’t care for his work much but a lot of people like it and he’s doing well!

Rusted and abandoned

An old oil drum stands on the quay at Ballycotton rusting away as the exposed metal is beaten down by the elements.

Technique: I increased the saturation of the reds to bring out the rust of the drum. I desaturated other colours so the drum would stand out.
I then duplicated the layer and darkened the top one to bring out the clouds and sky before using a layer mask to expose the ground on the bottom layer. After that a simple gradient at the top of the image provided a nice dark effect and finally, I dodge and burned the rust until I was happy. Was that useful?

I used CocoViewX to view my work directory from my Linux box on my Macbook. I was surprised that Finder didn’t display thumbnails and I didn’t want the iPhoto heavyweight when all I wanted was to know which image was which.

Fountainstown Cloudscape

Clouds gather over Fountainstown in Co. Cork. The setting sun provided a nice backlight for the clouds on the horizon.

The Fish Box

An abandoned fish box on Inch Strand, Co. Kerry. Clouds and a storm loom over the mountains across the bay but it was a bright blue sky that greeted us with only fluffy white clouds. I expect this box either fell overboard off a trawler or may have been used by a fisherman on the beach but left behind.

Technique: Split into two layers, darkened the top one to bring out the sky and cloud, used a gradient to make a smooth transition. Merge layers, burned the whole image, then created a new layer, set the mode to overlay and used another gradient to darken the sky further.

I like this: Oh oh, I’m caught!!

Cappuccino Morning

A beautiful misty morning greeted us a few days ago. The mist rolled down the valley outside and when the sun rose it produced these amazing shades of brown through the fog.

Thanks Jacinta for the name, it fits!

I added a tag cloud to the site this morning. It’s quite obvious from it where I live, and what I take pictures of!